We’re looking for passionate, motivated and inspiring Canadian YouTube creators to participate in a week-long creator camp designed to turbocharge your channel.

We have one of the world’s most vibrant communities of YouTubers here in Canada, both in terms of creative content produced and uploaded, as well as watch time. Canadian creators are exploding globally and are part of a new generation of Canadian artists growing up online, and reaching global audiences through YouTube.

This is the first time we’ve offered the YouTube NextUp program in Canada, but NextUp has helped over 250 YouTube creators from 15 countries to accelerate the growth of their YouTube channels since its launch in 2011.

Since opening the doors of YouTube Space Toronto back in April, we’ve worked with hundreds of talented creators to learn, connect and create. NextUp is our newest program designed to foster innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship within Canada’s YouTube community and we can’t wait to see which talented YouTubers will be part of our inaugural class in Toronto.

Applications are open to all Canadian YouTube creators who have between 10K and 100K subscribers. We are looking for talented creators that have already demonstrated success on the platform and who are ready to take their channel to the next level.

If you are selected to join the NextUp Canada class of 2016, you are eligible to receive:

A spot at a week-long creator camp at YouTube Space Toronto. You’ll team up with production experts to harness new techniques in camera, lighting, and sound, and receive coaching from YouTube Partnerships team on how to grow your audience.

Mentorship from YouTube NextUp grads, plus the opportunity to meet and work with other fast-rising creators. Could there be a better way to set off some truly awesome collaborations?!

A $2,500 voucher for production equipment to help you make your video dreams a reality.

Click here to get details on how to apply, including the eligibility requirements and context rules.

Whether it’s planning a night out or just catching up, we all rely on messaging to stay in touch with friends and loved ones. But too often we have to hit pause on our conversations — whether it’s to check the status of a flight or look up that new restaurant. So we created a messaging app that helps you keep your conversation going, by providing assistance when you need it.

Today, we’re releasing Google Allo, a new smart messaging app for Android and iOS that helps you say more and do more right in your chats. Google Allo can help you make plans, find information, and express yourself more easily in chat. And the more you use it, the more it improves over time.

Respond quickly with Smart Reply

Google Allo makes it easier for you to respond quickly and keep the conversation going, even when you’re on the go. With Smart Reply, you can respond to messages with just a tap, so you can send a quick “yup” in response to a friend asking “Are you on your way?” Smart Reply will also suggest responses for photos. If your friend sends you a photo of their pet, you might see Smart Reply suggestions like “aww cute!” And whether you’re a “haha” or “😂” kind of person, Smart Reply will improve over time and adjust to your style.

Express yourself with photos, emojis and stickersChat is more than just text, so we’ve created a rich canvas for you to express yourself in Google Allo. You can make emojis and text larger or smaller in size by simply dragging the “send” button up or down. Make photos your own by scribbling on them before you send. And we’ve worked with independent artists and studios around the world to create more than 25 custom sticker packs, because sometimes a “sloth riding a pizza” says it all.

Meet your personal Google Assistant

In Google Allo you’ll also be introduced to a preview edition of the Google Assistant. With your Assistant in Allo, you can have a conversation with Google — ask it questions and let it help you get things done directly in your chats. You no longer need to leave a conversation with friends just to grab an address, share your favorite YouTube video, or pick a dinner spot. Just type @google to bring your Assistant into any group chat. And of course, you can also chat one-one-one with your Assistant in Allo.

Here are just afew ways your Google Assistant can help in Google Allo:

Make plans with friends. You can easily move from discussing dinner with friends to making plans for the night, right in your chat. Just add the Assistant to your group chat and ask for movie times, local restaurants and more. You can also research travel destinations, flights and hotels together with friends.

Get answers. Get the latest info on everything from news, weather, traffic, sports, or your upcoming flights status. Ask the Assistant to send you daily updates on the information you care about.

Have some fun. Ask your Assistant to share that funny YouTube video or play games with friends right in your group chat -- for instance you can compete to guess a movie title based on a series of emojis.

The Google Assistant is the next chapter in a journey Google has been on for many years to assist people in their everyday lives. We’re starting with a preview edition to show you just one way that your Assistant will work for you in chat. Over the coming months, your Assistant will be available in more Google products, working seamlessly throughout your day at home or on the go. The Assistant will initially be available in English, with more languages coming soon.

Chat in Incognito mode

We take privacy and security seriously in Google Allo. All chats in Google Allo are encrypted using industry standard technologies like Transport Layer Security (TLS). But we went a step beyond this and we created a mode within Google Allo called Incognito(h/t Chrome). When you chat in Incognito mode, messages have end-to-end encryption and additional privacy features like discreet notifications and message expiration.

You can also message friends who aren’t yet using Google Allo through SMS or, for those using Android, app preview messages.

We can’t wait for you to say hello to Google Allo! We’re beginning to roll out Google Allo for Android and iOS, and the app will be available worldwide in the next few days.

Along with many others in the open source Accelerated Mobile Pages Project, we’ve been working to make the mobile web experience faster. In February, we launched AMP in the “Top Stories” section of Google Search, delivering news in a fast and reliable way. In August, we previewed linking to AMPs across the entire mobile search results page. Today we’re excited to announce that we’re rolling out that faster experience to users across the world.

Now when you search on your mobile device, you’ll see a label that indicates a page is AMP’d. This doesn’t change Search results but will show you which sites have pages that are ready to load lightning fast.

Today, the median time it takes for an AMP page to load from Google Search is less than one second. Beyond just saving you time with fast loading pages, AMP will also save you data -- AMP pages on Search use 10 times less data than the equivalent non-AMP page.

To date we have over 600 million AMP documents created by sites such as ebay(US), Reddit (US), Shopify (US), Konga (Nigeria), WikiHow (US), Cybercook (Brazil), Skyscanner (UK), and many more from all over the world (232 locales and 104 languages). These pages cover retail, travel, recipe, general knowledge and entertainment. That’s a lot of fast-loading pages!

Hundreds of Canada’s top advertisers and agencies joined us last night for Pulse, our annual event showcasing the best of YouTube. With a little help from special guests George Stroumboulopoulos and YouTube Creator Laura Vitale, a packed lineup of musical talent and a special hello from James Corden, we put the spotlight on the massive Canadian audience and what’s next for YouTube.

The big headline from the night is that everyone is watching YouTube. Across all ages, across all regions, across all walks of life - YouTube is where Canada turns for video content.

The way we’re watching video is also rapidly changing. The number of hours Canadians spent watching YouTube daily on mobile & tablet is up 60% YoY between 2014 and 2015.1 As viewers, we love the power of video no matter which screen we’re watching on. We’re watching frequently too. Our research found that 75% of daily Canadian users visit YouTube several times a day!2

Here are some of the top moments from YouTube Pulse 2016 that hint at where YouTube is going next in Canada:

Canada’s Newest YouTube Creator

“I want to be where interesting people are doing interesting things, and that’s on YouTube.” Those were George Stroumboulopoulos’ words as he announced a new career path as YouTube creator. Through his channel The Strombo Show, one of Canada’s most beloved media personalities is literally opening the door to his home to invite in music fans and artists for intimate jam sessions hosted in his own living room. George is investing in The Strombo Show Sessions, growing his YouTube channel and building a community of music fans online and offline. It’ll be a must-see for any music lover and we know that 77% of Canadian music fans turn to YouTube3 making it a great home for George’s next musical adventure.

George Stroumboulopoulos on stage at Pulse announcing his YouTube channel. Strombo declared that his “favourite music channel in the world is YouTube.” Canadian data suggests he’s not alone.

YouTube is for every passion, every skill level and everyone

After putting her seal of approval on the evening’s menu, Laura Vitale joined us to talk about her relationship with her audience. Laura’s viewers span across ages, locations and cooking skill levels, yet they keep coming back to her recipe videos and authentic approach. Whether you’re a foodie or a beginner, food is a huge category on YouTube and 65% of Canadians say they’ve watched videos about food or drink how-tos.4 Bringing together fans and creators to build communities around their passions is one of the most magical parts of YouTube.

Laura Vitale of Laura in the Kitchen welcomes contestants for an on-stage cooking challenge. Laura describes her fans as her “extended family”, underscoring the deep connection that YouTube creators develop with their audience.

As we look towards 2017, it’s clear that YouTube will continue to be the place where Canada turns for video content. YouTube reaches all Canadians, and allows brands to show up in a place where Canadians are choosing to watch content they love, choosing to watch more often and choosing to watch for longer.

For marketers looking for tips on how to amplify their success on YouTube, visit Think With Google for the top takeaways for advertisers from YouTube Pulse.

Here’s a stat that might not surprise some moms and dads out there: Canadian searches for “best backpack” have grown by 13% since this time last year. With the first day of school only days away, searches are surging for the latest fashion, tech and school supplies. Almost half (49%) of Canadians use the Internet to compare products, prices or features to help make purchase decisions. We know that this type of research can take time, so we want to help streamline the process for Canadian shoppers.

Just in time for back to school, we’re rolling out Google Shopping in Canada — a dedicated product search and discovery destination — to make it easy for shoppers to discover products and explore merchant offers in one place.

Canadians searching for products on Google.ca will continue to see Shopping ads in the same way they always have. They will also now be able to visit Google Shopping to see more products and refine their Shopping search by things like price, brand, color, and more, offering retailers additional opportunities to get their products in front of the people looking for them. So if you’re searching for backpacks for your child who is about to start preschool, you can find exactly the one you’re looking for — and easily connect with a merchant who sells it.

For businesses currently running Shopping ads, these offers will automatically begin showing on Google Shopping in addition to Google Search.

Helping Shoppers Discover and Explore

We've always been focused on helping people find the exact product they're searching for when they have a good sense of what they want. But everyday we see searches for broad terms like “living room furniture.” For less defined searches, what we've often shown are specific product ads -- say, a teal sofa -- and that may not be the most useful experience for the person who isn't sure what they want to buy.

Showcase Shopping ads help people further explore and discover what they want to buy and where they want to buy it. For example, if a shopper looking for something to wear to a end of summer party searches ‘summer dresses,’ ASOS, a global apparel retailer, can now showcase its collection of dresses in a visually rich experience. All merchants running Shopping Campaigns in Canada will be eligible to have their products automatically appear in Showcase ads in the coming weeks. And for merchants who would like to customize how their brand and products appear, we're experimenting with a premium version that allows merchants to curate the experience.

Enabling Shopping Across Borders

These days, shopping is truly global. To make shopping more efficient for shoppers and merchants alike, we’ve introduced a tool to perform currency conversions in various countries, including Canada. This feature allows shoppers to see products sold by merchants in other countries in their local currency. Shoppers can easily understand how much an item will cost, and merchants can continue using their existing website and landing pages without change. For example, a person shopping in the Canada can see products sold by a British retailer, listed in Canadian dollars.

To learn more about how to get started with Shopping ads, visit our Help Center.